US crude stocks fall, gasoline and distillate inventories rise, EIA says

U.S. crude stocks fell while gasoline and distillate inventories rose last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels to 422.9 million barrels in the week ended December 26, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 867,000-barrel draw.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI rose by 543,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.

Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI rose by 71,000 barrels per day, the EIA said, while utilization rates USOIRU=ECI rose by 0.1 percentage points in the week.

U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI rose by 5.8 million barrels in the week to 234.3 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.9 million-barrel build.​

Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 5 million barrels in the week to 123.7 million barrels, versus expectations for a 2.2 million-barrel rise, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI fell last week by 957,000 barrels per day, EIA said.